Mr. Fixit Hangs Hat At Stetson

Volusia sports

New Men's Basketball Coach Murray Arnold Relishes The Challenges Ahead, But Despite Returning Veterans, The Hatters Are Picked To Finish Last In The Conference.

October 19, 1997|By Tim Turner of The Sentinel Staff

By the time this story is published, the Stetson men's basketball team will be two practices into the Murray Arnold era.

Arnold, a veteran of 41 years in basketball, returns to DeLand to try to raise the play of a program that was 9-18 last season and is picked to finish last in the Trans America Athletic Conference this season.

After practices at midnight and 4 p.m. Saturday, Arnold plans to work his team twice more today at 1 and 7 p.m. With practices starting so late - pushed back from Oct. 15 to Oct. 18, and the season opening Nov. 15 at William & Mary instead of around Thanksgiving, Arnold knows he has work to do.

''We want to get a lot of what we want accomplished introduced so that we understand the direction in which we're going, so we can start perfecting skills and evaluating people,'' said Arnold.

''We've got a good group of kids. They are dedicated and enthusiastic. They are all coming back off having something less than a lot of success. It's easy for people to be hyped up and excited when they've succeeded. For these guys to be as committed and enthusiastic, based on what they've been through, is particularly gratifying.''

Still, even with that experience, it will be like starting over. The Hatters go from half-court to break-neck this season under Arnold, who is a veteran of fixer-upper programs. Of them all, he likes this one the best.

''This is about my fifth or sixth time at this in becoming a head coach in a situation where the program was not recently successful,'' Arnold said. ''It's a situation where we are trying to initiate and build a program that will turn things around.

''Is it old hat? Every hat's different. This is new hat to me and I enjoy this type of challenge. In particular when you are dealing with kids who want to succeed and a school that wants to have a successful program in the right way.''

Immediate success is the ideal, but isn't going to be stressed, at least in terms that most think is the most accurate gauge - wins and losses. Arnold has his own idea about how well his program is going to come along and is determined to stick with it.

''We're picked dead last, but that's not our concern,'' Arnold said. ''I think we're going to be a basketball team that progresses. We're really going to measure how we're doing by our progress rather than Ws and Ls early. As long as we're getting better and moving in a good right direction, our goal is to be as good as we can possibly be by February (near the end of the season) and to make the TAAC tournament and giving ourselves a shot at that.

''In building something like this, we have to be prudent and patient.''